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GSX-R shows V-twins the way at the Speedbowl

LITRE-SIZED twins may be the bikes to beat in World Superbikes at present, but it’s a four-cylinder bike which is leading practice for the prestigious Daytona 200 race in America so far.

Reigning U.S. superbike champion Mat Mladin is leading the field by a clear 0.38s on his Suzuki GSX-R750 after final practice before tomorrow’s qualifying session.

He’s well ahead of the bike in second, a Ducati 996 ridden by Steve Rapp, and – so far - favourite to take again the race which he won last year.

Third is another four-cylinder bike, Tommy Hayden’s Yamaha R7, ahead of the first Honda SP-1 in the field ridden by Kurtis Roberts, younger brother of 500 GP world champion Kenny.

So is this a foretaste of things to come in WSB? Well, probably not. Daytona is a circuit full of quirks and idiosyncracies, and doing well there is more a testament to good machine set-up and correct tyre choice than is to horsepower – despite the legendary Daytona banking which sees riders on full throttle for extended periods. Mladin’s team-mate Aaron Yates is nearly two full seconds adrift on an identical bike.

Other notable names racing at Daytona include five-times winner Scott Russell and former Castrol Honda WSB star Aaron Slight, both in their first races on Ducatis, and Anthony Gobert on a Yamaha R7.

While pole position is a good indicator to the potential of how the combination of a bike and its rider are shaping up, at Daytona when the flag drops nothing is certain, and a rider skilled in slipstreaming can take a machine that was nowhere in practice on to the podium.